What Are Push Notifications?

What Are Push Notifications?
A push notification is a message that pops up on a mobile device. App publishers can send them at any time; users don’t have to be in the app or using their devices to receive them. They can do a lot of things; for example, they can show the latest sports scores, get a user to take an action, such as downloading a coupon, or let a user know about an event, such as a flash sale.

Push notifications look like SMS text messages and mobile alerts, but they only reach users who have installed your app. Each mobile platform has support for push notifications — iOS, Android, Fire OS, Windows and BlackBerry all have their own services.

Why Are Push Notification Used For?
Push notifications provide convenience and value to app users. For example, users can receive:

* Sports scores and news right on their lock screen
* Utility messages like traffic, weather and ski snow reports
* Flight check in, change, and connection information

For app publishers, push notifications are a way to speak directly to a user. They don’t get caught in spam filters, or forgotten in an inbox — click-through rates can be twice as high as email. They can also remind users to use an app, whether the app is open or not. They can also be used to drive actions, such as:

* Promoting products or offers to increase sales
* Improving customer experience
* Converting unknown app users to known customers
* Sending transactional receipts right away
* Driving users to other marketing channels, such as social networks

Why Use Push Notifications?
Users today have a hard time remembering what apps they even have on their device. Push notifications help these services deliver timely and relevant information to users, and in doing so, staying top of mind.

A recent study showed that mobile users receive an average of 63.5 notifications per day, with most notifications coming from messaging and email applications.